Something went wrong. Try again later

Dalai

This user has not updated recently.

7868 955 278 378
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

A few words on Satoru Iwata.

I will try make this as short and to the point as possible, so please understand.

Mr. Iwata's passing came as a shock to many of us who play, follow, and live video games. I had known about the health issues he has had for the past year, but I had always thought he would bounce back and keep reigning over the Nintendo faithful for many more years. Sadly, I will never get to see Iwata's legacy continue into the next decade or beyond because he was one of the most important influences in my life as a fellow Nintendo fan and gamer. And it's only been in the past 5 or so years that I've come to acknowledge his influence on the video games I had played, even before I knew who he was back in his programming days.

The first game I can recall playing that Iwata had been an integral part of was Kirby's Adventure. I was one of the few kids who stuck with the NES because my parents weren't willing to buy me a SNES because... well consoles cost money. So I still had my NES and one of the last games I bought for the system was Kirby's Adventure, still one of my favorite games for that system. Despite being an 8-bit game that look more dated compared to its 16-bit counterparts, it managed to squeeze every bit of power the NES had. Finally in '94, I get my very own SNES and stock up on the classics like Super Mario World and Super Metroid, but if not for Iwata, I doubt I would be the Earthbound fan I am today. The story of him saving the game from development hell sounds more like an urban folktale, yet that was the reality. I had known he worked on Earthbound after going back last year and playing it through to the end and seeing his name in the credits. I may have never noticed that before until now... often I forget the names of the people who work on the games I enjoy, but that particular moment, the Iwata name jumped out at me, but only knew why just after his death. In fact, many of the stories and quotes coming out the past day or two were unknown to me until now. It makes his legacy even more grand knowing that he was also a programming genius and not just the leader of a multi-billion dollar company. Earthbound holds a special place in my heart and I thank Mr. Iwata for making sure that people like me were able to experience such a wonderful game.

The Satoru Iwata I've seen in recent years was the Iwata I am most familiar with now. Iwata the programmer was sort of forgotten because I never really got to see it as it happened. Iwata the president and CEO was what I saw and that's possibly where I got to see Iwata at his greatest. The title of CEO carries around a certain stigma, but in Iwata's case, the way he presented himself, his ability to connect to fans, and his sense of humor all resonated with myself and others. He was the one of the few CEO's I could trust to make sure the games I played were fun because he was so open to the nature of game development and what his goals were for those games. He was able to sell me on the Wii, the console that brought me back to video games after a seemingly dry period for me, and Iwata deserves credit for that. And although the 3DS isn't considered to be a huge success by Nintendo handheld standards, it became my first ever handheld system I owned and the games made under Iwata's watch is why I own one. And I own a damn amiibo! I forgive Mr. Iwata for amiibos.

So as I look at the numerous pieces of fan art and Miiverse posts in memory of Iwata-San, I wonder what Nintendo's future holds. Games like Super Mario Maker and the next Zelda game will be just some of the final games Iwata would have at least made a small impact on. I'm not sure how Nintendo as a company will continue on without him, but I like to believe there is another budding programmer over the horizon waiting for his or her chance to follow in Iwata's footsteps. With Nintendo's future uncertain as NX edges closer to unveiling and mobile games beginning to take shape, I can at least appreciate Nintendo's past endeavors for providing me with some of the most fun I've ever had, gaming or otherwise. And it was Mr. Iwata that made that a reality for the past 20-plus years. I wished there was another 20 years of Nintendo Directs with Mr. Iwata speaking directly to us along with Miyamoto and Reggie, but for the time being, one piece of the Triforce has broken off and been taken from us.

My condolences to the Iwata family, his friends, and the entire Nintendo family. I will miss him dearly, but when my time is up, I'd love to just play a few minutes of Balloon Fight with him in the next life, just so I can thank him in person.

Credit goes to @peachbunnii for making me sob uncontrollably when I look at this picture.
Credit goes to @peachbunnii for making me sob uncontrollably when I look at this picture.

1 Comments